Brussels Calls French Bill On Armenia Killings 'Unhelpful'

October 13, 2006 12:48 GMT

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Brussels Calls French Bill On Armenia Killings 'Unhelpful'

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The French National Assembly's vote prompted demonstrations by Turks outside the French diplomatic mission in Turkey (epa)
October 13, 2006 -- The president of the European Commission, Jose Manuel Barroso, today said that a French bill on the mass killing of Armenians some 90 years ago could harm the bloc's ties with Turkey.

Barroso has described the bill as "unhelpful."

Armenia has welcomed approval of the bill by the lower house of the French parliament.

The French legislation would make it a crime to deny that the 1915-17 massacres of Armenians by Ottoman Turks constituted genocide.

Azerbajian has echoed Ankara's outrage at the French move.

(AFP, AP)

Examining History

Examining History

CALL IT GENOCIDE? Questions surrounding the mass killings of Armenians at the beginning of the last century continue to dominate relations between Armenia and Turkey. In April,
Ankara proposed conducting a joint Armenian-Turkish investigation into the mass killings and deportations of Armenians during World War I. Turkish leaders suggested that the two countries set up a joint commission of historians to determine whether the massacres carried out between 1915 and 1917 constituted genocide. Armenia, however, insisted it would continue to seek international recognition and condemnation of what it says was a deliberate attempt at exterminating an entire people....(more)